


there's something wretched about this (something so precious about this)

by buoyantsaturn



Series: solangelo week 2020 [3]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, King Nico di Angelo, M/M, Relationship Negotiation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:28:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24778396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buoyantsaturn/pseuds/buoyantsaturn
Summary: Nico never wanted to be king.
Relationships: Nico di Angelo & Will Solace, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Series: solangelo week 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1789198
Comments: 51
Kudos: 173
Collections: Solangelo Auctober 2020, Solangelo Week 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hello and happy solangelo week!! i forgot what day it was, and what prompt was on the calendar. and what fic i had written for today. but anyway. i figured it out. here's a hozier song enjoy

Four years, eight months, and twenty-six days. 

That was how long Prince Nico was supposed to have before his coronation. 

Then the King died, unexpectedly, in his sleep. Nico, who was supposed to have upwards of four years before his coronation, was crowned a week after his father’s untimely death. He became King against his will, without feeling as the crown was placed on his head or the dread that he knew was buried deep inside himself. 

His father had been a good King. He hadn’t been the best  _ father, _ but he had respected Nico and his choices. He had agreed to not arrange a marriage between Nico and one of the princesses of a nearby kingdom. He had allowed Nico to practice his swordsmanship alongside the knights. He was supposed to serve as King until old age, until Nico was well into adulthood himself - not months before his twenty-first birthday. 

Nico was  _ King. _ But as he sat on his father’s throne with his father’s crown on his head, he wished he was  _ dead. _

Nico met with his father’s council of advisors the day after his coronation. He still had to learn how to be King, and according to his advisors, he couldn’t do that alone.

“I have to get  _ married?” _ Nico shrieked. 

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Lord Thanatos said, and Nico flinched at his form of address. “History has shown that a kingdom is less trustworthy of a king who is unwed. It is also considered a sign of weakness to other kingdoms, who may consider this weakness an opportunity to lay siege to this place. With your permission, Your Majesty, this council will begin the search for a suitable bride immediately. We have agreed that you must be wed by the end of the month.”

Nico felt like his heart was going to pound out of his chest. “And what if I don’t give my permission?”

Another advisor cleared his throat. “That really is only a formality, Your Majesty. We will begin the search once this meeting is adjourned, with or without your blessing.”

Panic began to set in, so Nico spoke his next words without thinking, “But I’ve already been courting someone.”

There was a pause as Nico’s words hung in the air. Lord Thanatos said, “We were not aware of this, Your Majesty.”

“My father wanted it kept a secret. He didn’t want rumors to spread throughout the kingdom and risk getting any hopes up at the thought of a wedding,” Nico lied, gripping the armrests of the throne tightly to hide the shaking of his hands. “I wasn’t ready to agree to a marriage, but...if I must, then… I will discuss it with my suitor.”

“Your Majesty, we will need your suitor’s credentials in order to--”

“My father approved of us, is that not enough for you?” Nico snapped. He stood, and every member of the council followed suit. “If that’s everything, then I’ll be off to discuss my engagement.”

Nico tried his best not to appear as though he was fleeing the scene.

He ran to the palace infirmary, across the grounds and through the knights’ quarters. He felt sick to his stomach and thought his ribs might break from the furious pounding of his heart, but that wasn’t why he sought out the doctor. 

He went in search of his best friend, who just so happened to be stitching up a nasty wound across a knight’s stomach. At the sight of it, Nico felt sick for an entirely different reason. He turned to face the wall and said, “I need to speak with you when you’re done here. You know where to find me.”

He could hear the smile in Will’s voice as he replied, “Sure thing, Your Highness.”

The knight under Will’s needle grunted, “It’s  _ Your Majesty _ when speaking to the King.”

Nico barely made it outside before emptying his stomach contents into a shrub. 

* * *

_ There was only one moment on the day of Nico’s coronation that he hadn’t felt numb to the world. It was when Will bowed before him, offering his hand for a dance. Nico had refused to dance with anyone for the entire celebratory ball, but he’d always had a difficult time saying no to Will.  _

_ Will hadn’t even had the opportunity to ask before Nico took his hand and pulled him toward the dance floor. With one hand holding Nico’s and the other wrapped firmly around his waist, Will said, “So desperate to dance with me that you won’t even let me have the honor of asking you, Your Highness? Or I suppose I should call you Your  _ Majesty _ from now on?” _

_ Nico’s hand tightened into a fist around the sleeve of Will’s jacket, and he buried his face in Will’s shoulder. He didn’t care if their position was inappropriate, he didn’t want to be there in the first place. He didn’t even want to be  _ King.

_ “Never call me that,” Nico whispered so that only Will could hear. “Please, Will,  _ never _ from you.” _

* * *

Nico was pacing in the private library attached to his bedroom when Will found him. He knocked on the doorframe before entering to announce his presence, immediately approaching Nico and pulling him against his chest. His arms wrapped around Nico’s shoulders as Nico’s hands tugged on the front of Will’s shirt, and Nico began to sob.

The scene brought forth the memory of the last time Will had been in Nico’s chambers, nearly a week beforehand. Shortly after the King’s death had been announced, Will sneaked up through the servant’s corridors to Nico’s bedroom, where he’d found Nico still in bed, crying into his pillow. He’d crawled into bed beside his friend and held him for half the day, offering Nico whatever comfort he could.

He was brought back to the present as Nico began to speak through his tears. 

“The council is demanding that I marry immediately,” Nico cried. “They insisted on finding me a wife, and I… I made a  _ horrible _ mistake, Will.”

Will started to pull away, but Nico only held tighter. “Come with me,” Will said soothingly. “Come sit.” He led Nico toward a large armchair and sat, pulling Nico down onto his lap. He fished a handkerchief out of his pocket and used it to wipe the tears from his eyes. “Tell me what happened.”

“I told them I was courting someone. I  _ lied _ to the  _ council, _ Will, and when they find out, they’re going to make me marry a  _ woman!” _ Nico exclaimed.

Will stroked a hand up and down Nico’s back and said, “I won’t let that happen, Your Highness. We’ll think of something. There must be someone of royal blood somewhere in the nearby kingdoms that would marry you. We can send out letters tonight to each of the kingdoms and ask for only their most handsome bachelors to be sent here. It’s a start, at least, right?”

Nico shook his head. “The council will know that I haven’t been courting someone from outside this kingdom. Besides, who would send off their son to be married to a man in need of an heir? I couldn’t  _ pay _ someone to marry me.”

“Hey,” Will said, taking Nico’s cheek in his hand and turning him to face Will. “Your Highness, plenty of nobles would  _ happily _ marry their sons off to you, because you were a kind and polite prince, and you will be an even better king than your father ever was. And I think you overestimate the price tags some would put on their children - if I had chosen to stay with my father, I’m sure he would pay to have someone take me off his hands.”

Will smiled at him, hoping his joke would help to lift Nico’s spirits, but Nico simply stared up at him with his big, dark eyes. “Your father… He’s a duke, isn’t he?”

“Yes, he is. Why?”

“You have royal blood.”

Will’s head tilted in confusion - what did that have to do with anything? “Technically, yes, but really, being the third son of a duke hardly means anything. I basically gave it all up to study medicine, anyway.”

Nico grabbed Will’s face in both hands, forcing him to look Nico in the eyes as he said, “Marry me.”

Will felt like he’d been punched in the throat.  _ “What?” _

“Just for appearances!” Nico continued, dropping Will’s face and raising his hands in surrender. “Just so I won’t be forced to marry a woman,  _ please! _ I can make sure this is a mutually beneficial arrangement. You’ll have your own bedroom here in the main palace rather than in the knights’ quarters, and I’ll even hire a new cook who specializes in Southern foods, so you’ll feel more at home here. And I  _ promise  _ you, as soon as you find someone you’d rather marry, I’ll arrange for our divorce. And...and I’ll do whatever else you want, Will,  _ please.” _

Will blinked in surprise. It took him a moment to process all of Nico’s words, but finally, he said, “I was ready to agree as soon as you said ‘please,’ but I’ll still let you hire a new cook.” He grinned and took one of Nico’s hands in his own. “You’re my best friend, Your Highness. I won’t let you suffer for your kingdom.”

Nico brought Will’s hand up to his mouth and pressed a kiss to his knuckles. “When we’re married, will you finally use my given name, like I’ve been asking you to for the last decade?”

Will’s grin grew brighter. “You’ll just have to wait and see, won’t you?”

Nico huffed and dropped his gaze to their intertwined hands. “We’ll need your father’s approval for the wedding. Will he give it?”

Will snorted rather unattractively. “Weren’t you listening? He’ll cry tears of joy.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello!! happy auctober!! bet yall weren't expecting to see more of this ever!!! i hope you like it!!

Will sent a letter ahead to Delos as Nico spoke to the council. He instructed them to begin planning the wedding while Nico went off to secure approval from his suitor’s father - he still refrained from giving them a name.

The next day at noon, Will and Nico climbed into a carriage and set off. Will, at first amazed by the comfortable seats and impressive leg room inside the carriage, soon found himself bored, and dreaded the long hours ahead of them on their journey. At the sound of Will’s fifth heavy sigh, Nico took his hand and asked, “Tell me what it was like growing up on Delos.” 

After that, the time passed much faster. 

They approached Delos just before the sun set, casting the island in a purple light. Will squeezed Nico’s hand and pulled back the curtain over the window so that Nico could see. “I can’t wait for you to see it in daylight,” Will told him. “Everything  _ glows _ in the sunlight, and the gardens have always been beautiful. And the water is so clear, it’s like glass or crystal.” He pulled his eyes away from the scenery and turned back to Nico. “I can’t wait to show you everything.” 

Conversation came to a stop shortly afterwards, as the carriage crossed the wooden bridge that would take them to the island of Delos. The sounds of the wheels hitting each slat and the rattling of the carriage combined made it impossible to hear anything else. 

Will was the first out of the carriage once they arrived, and the first thing he did was stretch his arms over his head. Then he turned and helped Nico out of the carriage, catching him when he stumbled on his sleeping feet. The servants of Delos rushed around to grab their luggage and brought it inside, so Will offered Nico his arm and started to follow after them.

They were stopped at the entrance. Another servant was waiting there with a smile, welcoming Will home after so long. She glanced down at Nico’s hand on Will’s arm and her cheeks earned a tinge of pink before she offered to show them inside. 

She led them through a grand hall, up a flight of stairs, and down a corridor before Nico whispered, “Why didn’t you tell me this place was  _ enormous?” _

“What else did you expect?” Will replied with a grin. “I have a big family.” 

Nico frowned. Will had just told him stories of when he would play on the beaches with his two older brothers, but he surely didn’t consider that to be a large family. “How big?” 

“I told you about Lee and Michael,” Will reminded him, and Nico nodded along, “and I have five younger siblings. I don’t think my father likes having empty rooms, so he keeps filling them.”

Before Nico could cry,  _ eight children?, _ the servant stopped outside a door. “Here we are,” she said sweetly. “I wish you both a restful night, and I will be back to escort you to breakfast in the morning.” 

Will smiled politely. “That won’t be necessary, but thank you.”

She bowed her head. “Of course. Sleep well.” 

As the servant left, Will let them into his old bedroom. Lamps were lit around the room, giving it a soft yellow glow, and both of their belongings had already been unpacked for them. It was a decent size room, smaller than what Nico was used to but still easily three times the size of what Will had in the knight’s quarters at the palace. 

Nico glanced up at Will and saw him smiling fondly, as though remembering what it had been like the last time he was here. It was a good look on him.

Will shut the door behind them both, and that’s when realization struck. “Your father expects us to sleep in the same room? We’re not even officially engaged!”

Will grinned at him. “Like I said, my father doesn’t leave open rooms in his home. If it would make you feel more comfortable, I could try to find space for myself with one of my brothers.” 

Nico frowned. “Don’t be ridiculous, this is  _ your _ bedroom. I’m not going to kick you out of it.” 

“Yes, but  _ you’re _ the guest here. I can’t tell  _ you _ to go sleep with my brother.”

Nico’s cheeks flushed. Rather than show his embarrassment, he found himself getting defensive. “Well, if you’re going to be stubborn, then I’ll sleep on…” He glanced around the room. “That chair!”

Will snorted. “You can’t sleep on a  _ chair. _ The floor is more comfortable than that chair.”

Nico crossed his arms. “Then I’ll sleep on the floor.” 

Will rolled his eyes, but that fond smile still played on his lips. “Now who’s being stubborn?” He crossed the room and turned his back to the bed, dropping onto it with his arms spread wide. “This bed is plenty large enough for two people to sleep on without crossing paths.” 

Nico moved to the wardrobe to find the sleep clothes he’d packed. “Then I think you will be very comfortable sleeping there by yourself.” He threw open the doors and found that his clothes had been intermingled with Will’s. He felt like his face had caught fire. 

Will laughed across the room, and stood from the bed. “Gods  _ above, _ you can be such a pain! Take the bed, and  _ I’ll _ sleep on the floor. I won’t argue with you anymore.” 

Nico huffed. “Fine.” He reached into the wardrobe and found the clothes that he recognized as his own, and turned around with them in hand. “Do the servants not help you dress here?” 

“No, they do.”   
“How do I call on one?” 

“I think you can survive one night without any help changing your clothes,” Will commented as he pulled a pillow off the bed and tossed it onto the floor. “Besides, they’re likely all asleep by now.”

Nico hesitated. “But--” 

“Would you like me to help you change?” Will asked innocently.

Nico was going to  _ die _ if all of the blood kept rushing to his head like that. “No,” he said quickly. “I’ll...figure it out.” 

Nico took his clothes and walked behind a screen to struggle out of his clothes. Had his clothes always had so many buttons? It took him at least ten minutes to finally change, leaving his clothes in a heap on the floor. When he stepped around the screen, he saw Will already lying under a blanket on the floor, eyes shut as though he’d already fallen asleep. 

“How did you do that so quickly?” 

Will’s eyes opened, and he turned his head to look at Nico. “Do what?” 

Nico simply waved his hands out in front of him. 

Will smiled. “It’s a pillow and blanket off the bed. And I’ve been dressing myself ever since I ran away to Angelos.”

Nico frowned. He knew that Will had arrived in Angelos when he was still too young to work as an apprentice, yet the palace’s medic had taken him in, and Nico and Will soon became friends. Will had told him a few times that his father hadn’t wanted him to study medicine, that he should care more about finding a wife and starting a family like Duke Apollo had done, but Will had never phrased his departure as  _ running away. _

Rather than responding, Nico made his way around the room shutting off the lamps until there was only a soft glow at his bedside. “Goodnight, Will,” he said into the dark, and then climbed into the bed.

“Sleep well,” Will replied as Nico doused the last flame. 

Nico settled into bed, curiously stretching out to see if any part of him could reach the edge of the mattress. After a few moments of trying and failing, Nico sighed. “Will?” 

“Yes, Your Highness?” 

Nico shuffled back over to one side of the bed. “This bed is too big for one person. Please don’t sleep on the floor.” 

Will had to help Nico dress in the morning, and Nico was  _ mortified.  _ He was sure his face was still bright red even as Will escorted him down to the dining room for breakfast, where they found Duke Apollo sitting alone at the head of the table, reading over documents. 

Will cleared his throat when they approached the table. “Good morning, Father.” 

“Good morning, William,” Apollo replied without raising his eyes. 

Will turned to Nico and rolled his eyes, smiling in a joking way. “Your Highness, this is my father, Duke Apollo of Delos. Father, this is His Highness, King Nico of Angelos.” 

Still, Apollo didn’t look up. He lifted a cup to his lips, but before he drank, he said, “William, please, it’s His  _ Majesty _ when referring to the king. Have I taught you nothing?” It was only a few seconds later that his words caught up to him, and Apollo nearly spat out his drink. His head snapped with so much force that Nico expected to hear a crack, and he stared across the table at the two young men, eyes flickering down just long enough to catch Nico’s hand where it rested on Will’s arm. 

He jumped to his feet and exclaimed, “My apologies, your majesty! Please, allow me to clear this space for you at the head of the table.” 

Nico calmly raised a hand. “That won’t be necessary, thank you. I can see you’re already...settled.” He eyed the plates and papers scattered across that section of the table. “May we join you for breakfast?”

“Yes, of course!” Apollo told him. “Please, make yourself comfortable. They should be serving the main course very soon.” 

Will pulled a chair out for Nico, then sat beside him. While Apollo scrambled to clean up the mess he’d made around him, Will asked, “Where are my siblings?”

Apollo waved a hand dismissively. “With eight children, how should I be expected to keep track of them all?” 

Will frowned. “You can’t even keep track of one of them?” 

His father shot him a grin. “I knew  _ you _ would be here, didn’t I?”

Will relaxed back in his chair, and Nico tried to follow suit, but his nerves had spiked. He knew that he would need to ask for Apollo’s blessing soon, but he couldn’t just blurt it out, could he?

“Right,” Will said. “About that. I take it you read the letter I sent, so, if it’s alright with you, I’d like to start discussing my marriage.”

_ “Marriage?” _ Apollo repeated.

Will frowned. “Yes? It was all in the letter.” 

“Yes, of course. Unfortunately, I didn’t read your letter. Hyacinthus reads all my letters for me.” 

Nico nudged Will with his elbow and mouthed,  _ Hyacinthus? _

“My assistant,” Apollo clarified, at the same time that Will said, “His lover.” 

Apollo settled back into his chair, as though realizing that the conversation was more important than stacking papers. He folded his hands on the table and looked to Nico. “Your Majesty, I take it you’ve come to negotiate a marriage with my son on behalf of one of your subjects?” 

“No, I am here on my own behalf.” 

Apollo frowned. “Sorry, what?” 

“I’ve been courting your son for the better part of the last year,” Nico continued, keeping a straight face in the hopes that Apollo wouldn’t see through his lie. He folded his hands on the table, mirroring Apollo’s posture. “My father gave his blessing on our union, but since his passing, my council of advisors has suggested that I marry as soon as possible. So we have come for your blessing.” 

Apollo seemed surprised at first, but quickly developed a frown. “Why wasn’t I informed of this sooner? A father has a right to know when his son is being courted!” 

Nico startled, flinching slightly at Apollo’s outburst. “I-- My apologies, I--” 

Will covered Nico’s hands with one of his own, gently silencing him, and addressed his father. “I haven’t lived here since I was fifteen. I’m your third son with practically no inheritance compared to my brothers. I wanted to make sure I could marry for love, not for financial gain from either side. His Highness and I are in love. We aren’t asking for you to prepare a dowry, just that you give your blessing.” 

Nico’s heart skipped a beat. Will sounded so convincing next to Nico, so much so that even Nico believed it was true - at least for a second. Will squeezed his hand. 

“I am prepared to negotiate a dowry on my behalf, to benefit you,” Nico added on.

Apollo waved a hand dismissively. “Will is right. He is his own man, so I won’t act as though I deserve something in return for his heart.” He stood and turned to Will, nodding for him to stand as well. As soon as Will was on his feet, Apollo drew him in for a hug. “My son is all grown up. Just promise me an invitation to the wedding, and of course I will give my blessing.” 

Will wrapped his arms around his father. “Of course you’re invited.” 

Apollo released his hold on Will only to take his face in his hands instead. Nico noticed that his eyes had started watering - he hadn’t thought Will was serious when he’d said that Apollo would cry at the mention of a wedding, but here he was. Still, Apollo smiled through the tears. “My son is going to be a king!” 

With Apollo’s blessing secured, Will and Nico would leave just after lunch. Will insisted on giving Nico a tour of the island, offering his arm as they stepped out into the garden. Will had been right, of course. The gardens were  _ beautiful, _ but anything that had to do with Will was bound to be. 

Nico tried for casual as he mentioned, “You sound very believable when you talk about love.” 

Will grinned down at him. “Do I? I suppose that’s for the best, don’t you think?” 

Nico hummed. A few steps later, he whispered, almost hoping he wouldn’t be heard, and asked, “Have you ever been in love?”

Will looked out toward the ocean, his smile softening as he remembered who Nico guessed to be some long lost love. “I thought so, once,” he said, just as quiet, “but I was just a child who had run away from home. I didn’t really know anything then.” 

Nico squeezed Will’s arm. “What about now?” 

“I think we’re both very different people now than we were then. Have you ever been swimming?” 

Nico nearly got whiplash from the change of topic. He wanted to go back, wanted to hear Will talk more about love, and wanted to ask,  _ how do you mean, ‘we?’  _ But he didn’t want to pry - if Will wanted to share, then he would, and Nico shouldn’t push. “No, I haven’t. The waters in Angelos are always too cold, so I never learned how.”

Will’s eyes widened. “You can’t marry a boy from Delos without knowing how to swim!” He lifted Nico’s hand off his arm and tugged him toward the water. “Let’s fix that!”

* * *

Nico strode into his next meeting with his council, calmly taking his seat at the head of the table all while ignoring the looks that were shot at him from around the room. Nico crossed one ankle over his other knee, and started drumming his fingers on the arm of his chair. “Are we waiting for someone else?” he asked when no others spoke.

Minos was grinding his teeth. “Do you realize you ruined the upholstery of the carriage you took to Delos?” 

Nico shrugged. “My fiance wanted to teach me how to swim. Would you rather I had waited another day to return to Angelos so that my clothes were dry enough to ride in the carriage?” 

“Fiance?” Thanatos asked. “You received a blessing on your union?” 

Nico’s smile was smug - he knew that his advisors hadn’t believed he was really courting someone. The shocked looks on all sides were incredibly satisfying to see. “I did. I hope you were busy planning my wedding while I was gone.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!!  
> check out solangeloweek on tumblr for more auctober stuff!

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!!  
> check out solangeloweek on tumblr for more content!
> 
> also.....i could.... POTENTIALLY be persuaded to write more of this......... but we'll see how things go......


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